


Kimi no Kioku

by kcrasuu



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Persona 5
Genre: Akamatsu Kaede is the Persona 5 Protagonist, Angst, F/M, Hurt and comfort, also enjoy the p3 title plz, if kaede can't have her own game then she gets this one, probably also swearing, take my crackship and enjoy it, teen for like normal persona 5 violence n stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:09:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29988885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcrasuu/pseuds/kcrasuu
Summary: The child hitman and the girl who's born to die.or; the ending on persona 5, kaede style
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Akechi Goro
Kudos: 1





	Kimi no Kioku

When the blur her in mind finally fades, she’s in the same room she goes to at night in her dreams.

Caroline is the first to speak up, “Well done on making it this far, Inmate.”

“Now that you have traversed your long, perilous recollection, you truly have entered the present..” Justine said.

“The effects of that drug are gonna wear off soon,” Caroline furrows her brows, “This is your golden opportunity. You must grasp the truth that will save you from the brink of ruin.”

“The evil influence who wishes you dead is fast approaching.” Kaede tightens her hands around the prison bars.

“If you want to win this unreasonable game…”

“If you wish to take back your stolen future..”

“Recall the bonds you formed with your allies..” the twins said in unison, “And grasp the truth that will save you from the brink of ruin.”

Kaede almost thinks she can hear a smaller voice in her head as the twins speak. A voice she’s heard before talking to her of past lives. She tries to listen in to what she says, but the more she strains her ears, the harder her head pounds.

“So, that’s what led to your ending up here.” Sae says, crossing her arms neatly over her chest. “What a disappointing end to the hero of justice.”

She sighs. “I still can’t believe it.. But, I now have a general idea of the methods you used for your crimes.” she looks off to the side, staring down one of the needles they had used on Kaede.

“There’s much more I’d like to ask, but my allotted time is nearly up..” she leans a bit over the table and crosses her hands in front of her. “I do have a suggestion though.

“Care to strike a deal? If you cooperate with me, I’ll consider lightening your sentence.” 

Kaede considers her options. If she says yes to whatever Sae wants, she might have a lighter sentence, but she may have to let out information about the people she cares about. She promised the thieves she’d get out well, and that she’d make sure they were all safe in the process. She can’t let them down.

Kaede moves her eyes from Sae’s and looks down at the table in front of her.

“I have a responsibility to solve this case, I will win, even if it means brokering a deal with you. Your operation was leaked, and you failed to change my heart. There’s no point in being obstinate now,” she looks up at Kaede. “You’ve corrupted the order of this country and caused an uprising against its very existence. You’ll most likely be given life imprisonment or the death penalty.. Unless you accept my proposal..” one of her hands ball up into a fist on the table. “Going forward, I will read a list of people who are closest to you and this case.”

Kaede tries to control her reaction as much as she can when Sae mentions her friends. She focuses on her breathing while Sae continues until she starts listing names. 

“Tell me honestly whether or not the following are involved with the Phantom Thieves..” she opens a folder and begins. “First, the friend who you’ve been with since the day you transferred to Shujin-- Sakamoto Ryuji. One of the victims of the Kamoshida case-- Takamaki Ann. Madarame Ichiryusai’s pupil-- Kitagawa Yusuke. The daughter of Isshiki Wakaba-- Sakura Futaba. The heiress to the Okumura Foods legacy and daughter of its CEO-- Okumura Haru. And.. the frequently-probing student council president of Shujin Academy-- Niijima Makoto.” when Sae said her sister’s name, she looked off to the side once more before bringing her eyes to Kaede once more.

“Those are you accomplices in the Phantom Thieves case, are they not?”

Kaede hesitates. She absolutely cannot tell Sae who her friends are. If she does she’ll be letting them all down, and betraying the people she cares about most. She takes a deep breath and let’s it out. “No, they are not.”

“So you won’t sell out your friends.. Then let me change the question. I find it hard to believe that high schoolers could have pulled off these crimes by themselves. Were there not others outside your direct group who encouraged your crimes or lent their aid? Not to repeat myself, but remember that your life will be forfeit if your sentence is not lightened. You had the cooperation of people outside your group, did you not? Can you tell me about them?”

Kaede thinks back to Sojiro, Takemi, Iwai, all her other confidants. They had also helped her through it all. It would all go to waste if she were to just give it all up to have a lighter sentence in prison. She goes either way, giving up information or not.

“No, there wasn’t anyone.”

“I see,” Sae huffs. “So you won’t speak a word about either your teammates or your collaborators? Do you even understand the position that you’re in?” she sighs and crosses her arms. “Let’s discuss one other person-- Akechi Goro.”

Kaede feels something within her drop at the mention of his name. She and Akechi were great friends.. Or she had thought. She enjoyed hanging out with the detective, he almost reminded her of someone she used to know, but when she and Morgana had the talk about Akechi betraying them, and when he blackmailed her, she didn’t feel as if she could look at him the same way.

“There are reports that he was acting alongside the Phantom Thieves as well, might he be a part of your team too?”

As if on instinct, Kaede shakes her head. 

“So Akechi Goro wasn’t one of you. Very well..” Sae sighs. “So be it. You clearly have no intention of bargaining with me.”

Kaede and Sae stare at each other.

“Even now, you’re still acting as though you’re a hero of justice? Your teammates have sacrificed you in order to escape, yet you wish to defend their honor? Why won’t you talk about them?”

Kaede closes her eyes and tilts her head down. “It.. It goes against justice.”

Sae gets up and gives a bitter laugh before slamming her hands down on the table making Kaede flinch. “Ha! Don’t be ridiculous! You’re the one who’s made wrong choices!”

Kaede looks up to Sae and narrows her eyes. “You call this justice?”

Sae looks to the side once more. “..Justice?” she slams her palm down once more. “..Then tell me! What is this “justice you speak of?”

Kaede stands firm and doesn’t break eye contact. “Saving others.”

Sae repeats her words. “What an awfully simple response!” she sighs. “You continue to stand firm.. Are you implying that we have no evidence on you?” she closes her eyes. “You’re right- we have nothing. And it doesn’t help that your story sounds like a fairy tale! But many people have fallen victim to this! We need to learn the truth. 

“The truth, huh? I don’t even know what’s right anymore. And it’s all due to your strange story!”

Kaede tilts her head to the side. “You still doubt me?”

“After all this, you’re still-” 

Sae continues to speak but Kaede doesn’t listen. She can feel the fog in her brain from the drugs thinning.

“.. Are you listening? The side effects of the truth serum should be wearing off. I won’t be deceived by such a poor act.”

Kaede thinks about her words. I won’t be deceived. She feels like she’s forgetting something important. 

A moment she had with Morgana flashes through her mind. “..You realized it too, the?. It was our conversation about pancakes, right? There’s no way he could’ve reacted like that if he hadn’t heard me..” 

Once it all fades back Kaede can see Sae waving her hand in front of her. “Hey.. Can you hear me?” she drops her hand. “It seems your mind is clearing up, but unfortunately.. My time has run out.” she frowns. “Although I find your story to be quite interesting, I won’t be able to speak with you any longer.” 

Kaede is quick to speak up. “You’re giving up?”

“..Huh?”

Her eyebrows furrow. “What are you getting at?” her expression goes back to it’s neutral phase. “.. That’s right. No matter the results of this case, I won’t be receiving credit.. I even had to call in a large favor just to conduct this interrogation..”

Interrogation.. Kaede thinks hard about this word. “So, how did that thing we asked you to look into go?” Morgana asked. “Niijima mentioned a special interrogation room, didn’t she?” Futaba nods. “Good. It looks like we can make this work if we lure them there.”

Sae waves her hand in front of Kaede once more “Hey.. hey, are you listening? .. Our times up. We’re done talking here. ..Goodbye.”

“Is this what you planned?” Kaede asked.

“..Planned? Why are you saying such odd things? .. Anyhow, there’s one last thing I want to ask you.. There’s something that’s been bothering me for some time now.” she places a hand on her chin, “Recently I was removed from my post as head of this investigation and was told to remain on standby, a short while later, I received word you were caught in the act.. Within some bizarre phenomenon.. But that was all I was told.

“You were told someone sold you out correct? But if that’s true, who could it have been? Don’t you have any idea?”

Sold out.. 

“My suspicions were true in the end.. All that’s left is to figure out a way to hand it over. It’s all up to you, Leader.” 

Kaede giggles and smiles at her friend. “You do it, Morgana.”

“That’d be impossible! A cat giving someone a smartphone is completely unnatural. Giving him the phone without arousing suspicion will be easier said than done. We’ll be counting on you to pull this one off.”

“Might you have an idea as to who sold you out?”

“I..I’m starting to remember.”

Sae’s eyes widened. “What do you recall?” she slams her hand down on the table. “If you know something, you must tell me! I won’t allow things to end like this!”

“The.. The phone.”

Sae looks down to Kaede’s phone sitting face down on the table. “You mean.. This?

“I’ve been told the lock on it is quite complicated. But, it only a matter of time until it’s cracked. What’s so important about this smartphone?” she looks back to Kaede. “Are you going to unlock it and show me the data?”

“Let’s let her sleep. She hasn’t slept for days while she’s been getting that app ready, now we gotta figure out a way to show him the phone.”

“Show it?” she asked.

“That’s right. I’m sure Makoto and the others told you about it. We need to show it to the true culprit. You know, the traitor.” 

“Hey! What are you trying to get at here? And what about this smartphone?”

“Show.. Show it to the true culprit.”

“The true culprit..?”

“We could say he stole the guard’s gun and committed suicide during his imprisonment.. How about that? Public security questioning will occur on the first day.. And with that room, my task will be simple. And thus, the dangerous criminal responsible for the mass mental shutdowns shall end her own life.

Sae gets up once more and places her hands on the table. “Please.. I need you to be clear with me! Who am I supposed to show this to?”

“Not a teammate..”

She repeats her words once more. Realization dawns upon Sae as she thinks about who she must give the phone to. “My god.. You’re referring to him, aren’t you?”

“You need to trust me.”

She sighs. “What are you plotting? I can’t even begin to fathom it.” someone knocks on the door and both Sae and Kaede look over. “.. But it appears my time is up. This is as far as our conversation can go. This will be my last involvement with this case..” she lets out a humourless laugh. “.. Very well. I’ve listened to your whole story, so I may as well play along to the end. ..And that honest look in your eyes.. I used to view the world the same way too, once,” she smiles softly. “I’ll place my bet on you.. I just need to show him the phone, right?”

Kaede nods. 

She can feel her bond with Sae grow as they wait a second longer before she must go, before Kaede’s fate is sealed.

Someone knocks on the door once more.

“I’ll be going now.”

Kaede can hear Sae mumble something but can’t hear exactly what she says. 

As she leaves the room, she can hear voices outside her door. She sighs and thinks over the plan she, Futaba, and Morgana had worked so hard on. She hopes dearly that she’ll be able to succeed and survive this madness.

He’ll give the Phantom Thieves credit where credit is due.

Their plan to keep him in the metaverse and make him kill the cognitive leader was smart, but they underestimated how far Akechi’s knowledge of the metaverse ran. 

When Akechi felt that familiar dizziness, he knew he was no longer in the real world. 

He watched as Sae walked down the hall before pulling out his own phone and opening the navigator. He knew Sakura had a bug on his phone, but that was an easy fix. 

He activated the nav, then threw his phone to the ground and crushed it beneath his heel. 

Kaede sat in the empty interrogation room waiting for the plan to begin. 

She trusted Futaba. She knew she’d be able to keep Kaede safe and she knew she’d be able to make sure she doesn’t die. 

Kaede closed her eyes and took a deep breath and let everything drain from her lungs. 

When she opened them once more, she heard shoes clicking outside. She couldn’t tell who’s, she thought that maybe Sae had come back for her and was going to take her home. 

When she saw the man she hoped she wouldn’t meet tonight with a smile on his face as he walked in, she couldn’t hide her terror.

Akechi smiled to Kaede before moving quickly to grab the guard’s gun, placing the silencer on the tip, and shooting him. Kaede looked down at the mess before her with wide eyes. She could feel tears prickling in her eyes but willed herself to stay as still as possible.

Many questions ran through her mind. How is Akechi here? Did Morgana’s and Futaba’s plan not work? Is this where I’m going to die? Is this the end? I-

Well done, Trickster. The time of failure is coming near. Dear Trickster, recall your past life, and the new bonds that have guided you to the truth. Good luck, Akamatsu Kaede.

The small voice she had heard earlier in the velvet room was now hitting her full force. She continued to take deep breaths when-

A rush of memories hit her.

Meeting Saihara in that classroom, meeting the rest of the people she would eventually become friends with- and end up having to kill. She remembers walking around the school with Saihara, planning the death of the mastermind, confronting Tsumugi about her cospocks and trading clothing. The class trial, trying to find out who the killing was, only for Saihara to convince everyone that she, was in fact, the killer. Her execution.. 

She remembers dying in that hell of a school. So how was she here?

The tears that wished to fall from Kaede’s eyes clung desperately to her closed lids. She was afraid to open her eyes. She’d have to see the scene before her, plus with all the sad and happy memories she had just gotten, she just wanted to sit and cry her eyes out. 

Without Kaede knowing, Akechi had sat down on the other side of the table. Legs and arms crossed, his left hand holding the pistol that would be used to end Kaede’s life a second time.

“I will say, your plan was smart, though it seems you’ve forgotten one piece of information that ruined the entire plan,” Akechi let out a dry chuckle and tilted his head to the side. “I’ve been in the metaverse for years, as I assume you know.” 

Akechi got up and pulled at his left glove. “It’s time,” he sighed. “It’s a shame, I really did enjoy your company.”

Kaede thought of everything she could to get her out of this situation. She thought of how she kept conversations going in the class trial, how she talked to her confidants, anything that came to mind that could stop Akechi from killing her when-

“Case closed, this is how your justice en-”

“I wish there was a piano here..”

Akechi blinked dumbfoundedly at Kaede as she mentally patted her back for having her voice not break during that sentence. Akechi’s right arm fell limp to where it was tugging at his glove seconds ago. “What?-”

“I’d play you a song to help you cheer up!” Kaede smiled sadly and kept her face solely to her lap. She had finally opened her eyes and let the tears flow. It felt better than letting it all bottle up.

“Akamatsu, what are you talking about-” Akechi asked, but didn’t receive an answer, Kaede just kept going. 

“A pretty song to play for you.. O-Oh! What about Clair De Lune by Debussy?” her smile didn’t fade as more tears flowed down her cheeks.

Akechi has heard Kaede talk about this song. She told him that she doesn’t remember who she originally associated the song with, but she told him the person meant a lot to her, she was just having memory problems. 

“Akamatsu-” Akechi attempted once more.

“It’s a soothing song th-that calms your heart, like the m-moon’s reflection on water..” she brought her gaze up to meet Akechi and smiled the same bright smile she had given him everytime they had met. 

“I..I believe in you.. So, y-you should definitely believe in yourself!” her smile never faded as she turned to stare at the table. “Please.. Uncover the truth, Saihara-kun..” she mumbled. Akechi could faintly hear the words she said but it doesn’t matter. He has a job to do here and he’s wasting time.

Akechi sighed and pinches the bridge of his nose with his free hand, the other still raising his gun to the roof. “Nevermind. Case closed, this is where your justic-”

Kaede reached out her hands and took the barrel of the gun in her hands, guiding it to her forehead. “No need for theatrics, Akechi. It seems within every life I am born to die. At least it was a life worth living, I mean I-I met both of my best detective friends.. Thank you, Saihara-kun, Akechi-kun..”

Akechi stood there, with a gun pointed at the head of the first person he had really cared about besides his mom. He didn’t understand why she did that. She had been rambling about confidence and a song she had once played on the piano only two minutes ago, and then she led a gun to be pointed at her head. 

Was she crazy? Did she understand what she was getting into? Why.. Did she thank him? 

“Akamatsu, what do you think you’re doing?” he tried to pull away his hand but although she was injured she held a hard grip on the silencer. “Akamatsu, this isn’t some sort of joke.” he tried to pull again, but she wouldn’t let go. He slammed a hand on the table as his voice began to break. “Akamatsu, please..”

“I know.. And please, call me Kaede!” she smiled brightly, like she didn’t currently have a gun pointed to her head. 

“K..Kaede, I can’t I-” Akechi never did want to go through with this plan. He had the idea, yes, but he just needed to get on Shido’s good side, he never did really want to kill Akamatsu. He enjoyed her company, she was one of the first people he had genuinely cared about since his mother passed, and he really didn’t want to lose someone else. 

Akechi’s shoulders slumped and Kaede giggled. “Akechi.. That’s what you came here to do, isn’t it? Your plan was to kill me, and I’m letting you! This is your chance, come on!” Kaede made the situation sound like she wasn’t going to be gone forever if he simply moved his index finger. “Like.. Like I said, I am born to die.”

He couldn’t do it. Listening to Kaede tell herself she was just born into this world to die. He understands that people are meant to die, hell, he’s killed many, many people. But Kaede is so young, with so much more potential than him. 

Akechi slid his hand out of the gun and watched as Kaede dropped the gun to the table after not being able to hold its weight. He moved on auto-pilot. He moved around the table and pulled Kaede out of her chair and hugged her like if he let go she’d be gone forever. 

Kaede was stiff at first but soon let some of her weight fall onto Akechi. She let out a breathy laugh and sighed on his shoulder. “You know, now that I remember everything, maybe you can actually arrest me.” she began to giggle, before the turned into coughs. Akechi pulled away so he could look at her face.

“We have to leave.” Akechi said, grabbing her hand and almost dragging her out before she began to trip. He quickly backtracked and put her arm around his shoulders and put his arm around her waist.

He pulled open the door with more force than he truly needed and (tried to) speed-walk out the building with Kaede in tow.

Once they get out of there, he’ll make her tell him everything. After she rests.

**Author's Note:**

> this is totally inspired by the book where someone wrote kaede as the p5 protag  
> also bc like, kaede and akechi both wear sweater vests, and so they're pretty for each other.
> 
> i think this'll be like 5 chapters? it'll be slow tho bc i'm kinda dumb
> 
> also i'm sorry if there are mistakes !!


End file.
